The Last Days of July

It wouldn't be summer without baseball.

Here's Alexandra mugging for the camera along with Muddonna, the St. Paul Saints' mascot. Ellie, at right, is a bit more demure, but enjoyed the celebrity encounter nonetheless. The Saints prevailed over the Sioux Falls Canaries, 7-0, highlighted by an 8th inning grand slam.
The following day, we explored the Wilkie Unit of the MN Valley Reserve. Tracking along the river, we snacked on wild grapes and saw several impossibly bright (and fat!) goldfinches and even a lovely male indigo bunting, who graced us with a treetop concert.
By now, the land is lush and overgrown from the long, mild days. August heat will brown then September turn all to red, orange and gold-- but for now, green is everywhere.
The little dots against the sky in the photo above (click to enlarge) are swallows sweeping out from under the bridge to catch insects above the marsh and bring them back to their young, who wait in mud nests affixed to the substructure.

In addition to the Minnesota River, there are three lakes (Blue, Fisher and Rice). This area is a major rookery for Great Blue Heron.
We also stumbled across a dozen or so garter snakes sunning themselves beside the path, another sure sign of summer.